Don’t Be Afraid to Fix It.

Companies that bill-back expenses to their customers often have processes in place that have adapted over time. The longer the processes have been around, the more difficult it is to implement a change – both culturally and technically.

Is it worth it?
Considering that older processes are typically manual and often rely on proprietary systems that cannot integrate with modern applications, it’s worth looking into.

Here are some considerations to help you decide:

What is the End Game Today?

The entire point of any billable project is profitability – right? Start at the end of the workflow in accounting. Their goal is to get money owed back into the company in as short a time as possible. What does it take today to get all the project-related pieces together and assembled into a package for the customer?

What To Watch Out For: The process may not be the same for all customers. Many have specific formatting requirements for how they want this data arranged on their statement. Also, be afraid of spreadsheets. Be very afraid.

Follow the Data Upstream

What are the steps required of the rest of the employees to feed accounting the information they need? You will end up at the expense report every single time. And although accounting can show you this process, I recommend you have a talk with someone who actually has to complete expense reports as a result of working on the customer project. Their angle on the process is worth understanding.

What To Watch Out For: Special reporting steps required for projects with billable expenses such as separate expense reports for each project with no other expenses included. Think about multiple projects going on at the same time. Also watch out for the look on their face.

Show Instead of Tell

Have folks actually do the work in front of you to accurately illustrate the time and attention it takes. As employees show each step, ask why it’s done that way. When you interview the accounting group I suggest bringing walking shoes because the copier, scanner, printer, and computer that stores the spreadsheets are not usually in the same room.

What To Watch Out For: Workarounds that exist to bridge gaps. You’ll hear “We do this because the other system can’t… ” or “This extra step is needed to double-check accuracy because…” and “I really need a new pair of walking shoes …” – that kind of thing.

After all that, does your current solution and process equally support the business requirements and the productivity of both your front office spenders and travelers, and back office accounts team? If not, it’s worth looking into something new for everyone involved. Change is good!